Explore life in the countryside at our five-star museum, farmhouse and historic working farm.

Our beautiful Clydesdale horses are one of the star attractions at the National Museum of Rural Life

The Wester Kittochside Farm at National Museum of Rural Life was owned and run by the Reid family for more than 400 years.

At the National Museum of Rural Life we have a significant collection of 20th-century harvesting machines in our large machinery store.

The National Museum of Scotland is housed in magnificent buildings. Find out about its striking architectural details below, and explore them further on your next visit to our Museum.

Discover the latest information about visiting our museums

Plan the perfect trip to the National Museum of Rural Life

From the early 20th century, the tractor helped to transformed farm life in Scotland. There are several examples on display in the collection at the National Museum of Rural Life, East Kilbride.

The National Museum of Scotland has become the first museum or gallery in Scotland available for exploration online via Google Arts & Culture’s Museum View experience.

Discover our new trail on a walk to the farm.

Your journey of discovery starts here

Within the walls of Edinburgh Castle, the National War Museum tells the story of Scotland at war.

Explore the highlights of the museum and our working farm with this family trail.

Wing your way to one of Scotland's top days out at East Fortune Airfield.

The National Museum of Rural Life is open and tickets are available to book online.

Explore inside the National Museum of Rural Life with your class using our themed trails.

Learn more about what’s changed to help you plan your visit to the National Museum of Rural Life.

The Wester Kittochside Farm at National Museum of Rural Life was owned and run by the Reid family for more than 400 years. Find out how the tenth laird and his family celebrated Christmas and New Year on the farm.

More than 10 million objects make their home at the National Museum of Scotland. Discover the secrets of our treasures with this unique five-part series.

The history of the Reid family and farming on the Wester Kittochside farm National Museum of Rural Life.

In 2016, we celebrated 150 years since the magnificent building that houses the National Museum of Scotland first opened to the public. Explore the Museum’s history here.

This exhibition explored the history of anatomical study, from artistic explorations by Leonardo da Vinci to the Burke and Hare murders.

Our working farm at the National Museum of Rural Life is home to Ayrshire, Aberdeen Angus and Highland cattle, Tamworth pigs, sheep, hens and Clydesdale horses.

National Museums Scotland are delighted to welcome back the University of Edinburgh Short Courses – a great way to explore our collections and their wider history with experts.

Discover objects on loan to the new Trimontium Museum in the Scottish Borders

Discover the life of the National Bard through the collections of National Museums Scotland.

Join curator Lydia Prosser for a guided virtual tour of our Kingdom of the Scots gallery at the National Museum of Scotland.

Visitors discovered some of the treasures within the National Museum Scotland's significant collection of oracle bones, the second largest in the world outside of China.

After 4,000 years the plough is still with us and its development has been at a slow and steady pace but the basic technology has remained the same. Discover more about this essential tool through ploughs in our collection.

Learn where food comes from or how to make butter in one of our facilitator led workshops.

Discover the story of National Museums Scotland, from our 18th century beginnings to the present day.

Long before the French Revolution, the Scots had invented and were using the beheading machine known as the Maiden. It was used to execute criminals and political opponents of the crown from 1564 to 1710.

Join Chief Chebe as he takes you on two African storytelling adventures at the National Museum of Scotland.

Forts were not just military bases, they became the heart of communities

We’ve teamed up with upcyling experts Ostrero and artist Bryony Knox to create three paper-cut designs inspired by Scottish animals. Choose from a stately stag, a magical unicorn or a red squirrel! The designs are inspired by paper-cut art from Mexico . Look out for some examples in our Patterns of Life gallery.

Plan the perfect trip to the National Museum of Flight

Maori craftsmanship and museum conservation bring to life one of our most unusual and intriguing objects.

Explore the life and career of Bernat Klein, one of the 20th century’s leading forces in modernist design, in this free exhibition marking the centenary of his birth.

This striking fusion of styles, traditions, and Scottish and Ugandan cultures is designer José Hendo's sustainable fashion statement for our times.

During and directly after the Second World War, the Reid family at Wester Kittochside, East Kilbride employed both Italian and German prisoners of war.

Acclaimed historian and broadcaster Michael Wood joined Dr Adrián Maldonado, Glenmorangie Research Fellow, to discuss Adrián’s new book, 'Crucible of Nations: Scotland from Viking Age to Medieval Kingdom'. The book reassesses the museum’s Viking-age collections, uncovering an exciting new vision of Scotland’s diverse and creative past.

Learn how to say colours in Mandarin, explore the museum collections, in person or virtually, and create your own Chinese object card.

Delve into our animated adventures and explore the world around us from unique perspectives.